Stand-In Star by Rachael Johns Page A

know everything about how he’d started in such an unusual, unpopular career but unfortunately a couple of girls professing to be on their way to a club, passed by the table and shrieked like a pair of fourteen year olds when they noticed Nate.
    He stood to greet them. A lot of kissing and hugging ensued. Holly’s chest tightened as she watched the women wrap their skinny limbs around Nate as if they didn’t plan on ever letting go. He wore a playboy grin, as if he’d happily bask in their attention all evening.
    Holly was about to excuse herself to the ladies’ restroom, when the girls finally looked down at her. She wasn’t surprised when they gave her the once-over head-to-toe. Neither of them tried to hide their sneers.
    Nate’s look of admiration when he’d first seen her in the dress had almost made her feel special, beautiful even. These girls made her feel like Daisy had—chunky, plain, uninteresting. She swallowed, feeling like a stuffed animal in a museum. Their presence put her firmly in her place, reminding her that despite her banter with Nate, he felt nothing but ill-will toward her.
    “Is this…? You’re not…?” One of the women—the most peroxide-blonde of the two—thrust her finger at Holly. “Omigosh, this is Daisy’s sister. Hello.”
    Before Holly knew it, she was enveloped in a hug that felt as plastic as these women looked. She stood like a matchstick being groped by a praying mantis.
    Extracting herself, she offered a “hello” and a polite smile to the women she assumed had to be actresses or models.
    “We’re so sorry about Daisy,” gushed the other blonde. “I’m Sami by the way and this is Sian. Daisy was such a special person.”
    “Oh, so special.” Sian pressed her hand against her heart and sniffed.
    Sami dug around in her tiny purse and extracted a tissue. Holly thought she meant to offer it to her friend. Instead, she buried her own face in the white and sobbed.
    “Did you know her well?” Holly glared at Nate for help and then instinctively reached out to pat the other woman on the back.
    “Oh, well enough.” Another gut-wrenching sob, at least that’s the effect Holly guessed she was going for.
    “Yes, we adored her,” Sian added, blinking as if she were trying really hard to summon some tears of her own.
    Holly couldn’t say the same so she stood there feeling uncomfortable, wishing to hell their meals would arrive. For the first time in as long as she could remember, her prayers were answered. Two waiters came over carrying silver domes, which they laid with flair onto the table.
    Nate took control of the blubbering blondes. “Lovely seeing you again, ladies. Must be about time we did another shoot. Call me.”
    Eyelashes were batted in unison and the two of them clamored to see who could give him the longest hug goodbye. The lengths of their embraces were almost indecent but Holly couldn’t blame them. She wanted to bump them out of the way with a sharp elbow but she couldn’t blame them because while she looked on like an uninvited third party, her own vivid imagination was thinking about how it would feel to have his arms wrapped around her instead.
    If the warmth flooding her body and the tingling in her limbs were anything to go by, she imagined if he ever hugged her, she might find it hard to pull away as well.
    Don’t be ridiculous. He doesn’t even like you!
    She forced herself into her seat and took a much-needed slug of mineral water. She hadn’t realized her throat was dry but she guzzled the cool liquid. The girls didn’t say goodbye to Holly and she couldn’t say she cared, but her stomach did a little flip when Nate sat back down opposite her.
    “This looks delicious.” She nodded at her lobster mousse and picked up her knife and fork, determined to move past this silly schoolgirl crush-like thing. It was like crushing on the captain of the football team who’d never even noticed you existed.
    “It will be. This place does